Evans Above

Sony has released the 1961 action film The Guns of Navarone as a 4K limited-edition SteelBook. Sony last released it as a 4K two years ago; this version adds Dolby Vision HDR grading and a collectible SteelBook case. Directed by J. Lee Thompson, the films stars Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn as Allied saboteurs who must infiltrate a Nazi fortress to disable two long-range guns. The cast also includes Stanley Baker, Anthony Quale, Irene Papas, Gia Scala and James Darren. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won for Best Special Effects.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The remastered transfer looks excellent and true to its film source has a good grain level. Except for a few moments of softness here and there, it’s a crisp video presentation with amazing detail in the faces, uniforms and scenery. The colour palette is muted with greys and natural greens but the HDR grading adds to the differences between those colours. Black levels are deep and detail is present in darker scenes.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby Atmos soundtrack that folds back to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 as well as English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 tracks, French, German, Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks, Portuguese and Spanish (Castilian) Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks, and Czech, Hindi, and Spanish (Latin American) Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish. The audio team has done a great job placing an older soundtrack into the Atmos world. Gunfire, explosions and other effects find their way across the soundscape and into the surrounds while the subwoofer adds some authority to explosions. Dialogue is clear and centred.

The 4K set also includes a Blu-ray disc and a digital code. The 4K disc has the option of showing the film with or without the roadshow intermission card. There’s also a main title progression reel which displays the early sketches for the main titles, and a theatrical trailer. The bulk of the extras are on the Blu-ray disc. There are audio commentaries by film historian Stephen J. Rubin and director J. Lee Thompson, an interactive dossier that discusses the film and the history, a look at the early aspects of production such as finding a director and cast, a look at the movie, its symbolism and connection to Greek mythology, cast and crew discussing the production and its legacy, a look at restoration efforts, a short piece on the score, various featurettes on shooting in Greece, and a message from writer/producer Carl Foreman. The collectible SteelBook case depicts the guns of the fortress on the rocky cliffs above rough seas, while a smaller image on the back depicts the fishing vessel the Allies used to get close to the fortress. There is no art on the inside.

A great movie, a great cast, great audio and video, a collectible SteelBook case and a large collection of legacy extras. The Guns of Navarone is a classic and entertaining action film and is highly recommended.

Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down is a 2001 film about the Battle of Mogadishu. In 1993, as part of the UN operations in Somalia, the US deployed Rangers and Delta Force troops to capture warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid, who was stealing Red Cross food shipments meant for the famine-starved citizens. When two Black Hawk helicopters crashed, the US forces on the ground suddenly found themselves outnumbered. The cast included Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, Jason Isaacs, Sam Shepard, Jeremy Piven, Ioan Gruffudd, Ewen Bremner, Hugh Dancy, and Tom Hardy. Sony released a 4K of the film back in 2019, but this 2023 release now includes Dolby Vision HDR and a limited-edition SteelBook case. I had a chance to take a look.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.38:1 aspect ratio. The 4K scan is from the original camera negative and we get both the theatrical and extended cuts in this release. The grain structure is well defined and detail is in abundance, from faces to battle-worn uniforms and locations. The colour palette leans towards monochromatic, with a lot of dusty yellows and greys. Black levels are deep and there’s no lack of detail in shadows and darker scenes, nor is there much evidence of banding and crushing. It’s an excellent transfer.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of English Dolby Atmos soundtrack that folds down to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, as well as an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, French (Canada), French, Italian, Hungarian, Portuguese, Spanish (Castilian and Latin American), Russian and Thai Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovenian, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish. The soundscape is full of the action, with the sound of bullets, rockets, explosions and helicopters flying through the surrounds and height channels and placing your firmly n the scene. The subwoofer adds a powerful low end to the action as well. Dialogue is clear. A great audio presentation.

The 4K SteelBook of Black Hawk Down comes with three discs: The theatrical and extended cut on 4K, the theatrical cut on Blu-ray and a Blu-ray disc full of extras. There is also a digital code. The bonus features include audio commentary by director/producer Ridley Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, audio commentary by author Mark Bowden and screenwriter Ken Nolan, audio commentary by Task Force Ranger veterans, “The Essence of Combat: Making Black Hawk Down” documentary, The History Channel Presents: “The True Story of Black Hawk Down”, PBS Presents: “Frontline: Ambush in Mogadishu”, eight deleted and alternate scenes with optional commentary, “Designing Mogadishu” featurette, production design archive, storyboards with optional commentary, Ridleygrams with optional commentary, Target Building Insertion: Multi-Angle sequence with optional commentary, Q&A Forums: BAFTA. Motion Picture Editor’s Guild and American Cinematheque, Jerry Bruckheimer’s BHD photo album, title design explorations with optional commentary, “Gortoz A Ran – J’Attends” music video by Denez Prigent & Lisa Gerrard, photo galleries, theatrical poster concepts, trailer, and TV spots.

The Black Hawk Down 4K SteelBook combines a powerful war film with excellent audio and video and a plethora of extras, all in a collectible SteelBook case. Recommended.

Gran Turismo is based on the true story of a gamer who becomes a race car driver. Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom), a marketing exec at Nissan’s motorsport division, Nismo, pitches the idea of training the top players of the Gran Turismo racing game to be real drivers. The training is put in the hands of former driver Jack Salter (David Harbour). Teen Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) is one of the gamers who shows the most promise and makes the jump from racing on a TV to racing on asphalt. It’d be unbelievable if it wasn’t true. The cast also includes Darren Barnet, Geri Halliwell Horner, and Djimon Hounsou. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released it on both 4K and Blu-ray. I was given an opportunity to check out the Blu-Ray.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 1.90:1 aspect ratio. The video presentation is sharp, with facial features, the cars and track and racing uniforms all exhibiting great detail. The colour palette looks natural, whether we’re looking at skin tones, the racing cars or the environment around the track. Whites are bright, while the black levels are deep and don’t lose detail in the shadows. It looks great and I imagine the 4K will look nicer still.

On the audio side of things, Sony has saved the Dolby Atmos soundtrack for the 4K. On the Blu-ray review copy I received, there’s an English, French and Korean DTS-HD MA 5.1 track as well as Spanish and Thai Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for Englsh SDH, French and Spanish. The 5.1 mix is no slouch and the roar of the engines and squeal of the tires moves easily through the surrounds with the subwoofer giving a nice deep floor. The score is bright and dynamic, while dialogue is clear, centred and well prioritized in the mix.

The US review copy I received comes with the Blu-ray and a digital code. Once again, a digital code is not included in Canada. I’m not sure about other countries. Extras include extended and deleted scenes, a look at the real Jann Mardenborough, a piece on director Neill Blomkamp’s visual style, as well as featurettes on the cast, the shooting of the racing sequences, and the vehicles.

The Gran Turismo Blu-ray combines a very good Blu-ray audio and video presentation with a nice selection of extras. If you’re a big fan of the film, you may want to get the improved resolution and audio of the 4K.

In Richard Donner’s 1988 Christmas movie Scrooged, Bill Murray plays Frank Cross, a self-absorbed TV exec who is staging a live broadcast of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Cross, like Scrooge, is in need of a little three ghost therapy himself. The film also stars Karen Allen, John Forsythe, Bobcat Goldthwait, David Johansen, Carol Kane, Robert Mitchum, Michael J. Pollard, and Alfre Woodard. I had a chance to take a look.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. It can be a roll of the dice how Paramount treats grain, but here the grain structure has been allowed to remain resulting in a natural filmic look. Details are sharp, whether you’re looking at facial features, textiles or scenery. Black levels are nice and deep with detail in darker scenes and the HDR grading allows whites to be bright without blooming. The rest of the colour palette looks great too. It’s an excellent transfer and won’t be on Santa’s naughty list.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack as well as German, Spanish, French and Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Norwegian, and Swedish. The 5.1 track is the same track from the previous Blu-ray release. It wraps various ambient sounds and action effects nicely into the surrounds and there’s some good bass in the subwoofer too. Danny Elfman’s score sounds great and dialogue is clean and centred.

The 4K release of Scrooged does come with a digital code though there may be different versions that do not. My copy did not have a code indicated on the case, so check with your retailer before purchasing. The extras were apparently made at the time of the previous Blu-ray release but not included, so in that sense they’re new. They include an audio commentary by Richard Donner, a look at the production history, cast and crew, a piece on updating the classic tale to 1988, a look at the trio of ghosts, a bit on the production design, and a pair of featurettes focusing on Murray.

Scrooged can be dark and cynical, but it also retains the redemptive heart of the original story. With excellent sound and video and a nice selection of extras, I’d recommend the Scrooged 4K.

Paramount Home Entertainment has released South Park: The Complete Twenty-Sixth Season on Blu-ray. Like the season before it, season 26 is just 6 episodes, a fact that has disappointed fans who hoped that Parker and Stone’s big streaming deal would see them return to the longer seasons of the show’s earlier run. Still, in these six episodes, our four school chums manage to tackle everything from anti-Semitism, Kanye, Harry and Meghan, Japanese toilets, AI, work ethics and toxic masculinity.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The show’s trademark 2D animation style is served up with great clarity and sharpness for the animation’s line art. Par for the course, the colour palette is full of bold primaries.

On the audio side, there’s a single English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack with subtitles available for English SDH. While a pretty front-heavy mix, the surround channels do get to do some work handling effects. The dialogue is clear and centred.

The single disc has zero special features, nor does it come with a digital code.

The South Park: The Complete Twenty-Sixth Season Blu-ray is shorter than past seasons, but if you’re a huge fan wanting a complete collection, you’ll want to get this.

Paramount Home Entertainment has released South Park: The Streaming Wars on Blu-ray. In typical South Park fashion, the two special event storylines manage to combine water scarcity, global warming, corporate greed and breast implants while also being a commentary on the glut of product for streaming services.. How will the town of South Park and its four most famous residents – Kyle, Stan, Kenny, and Cartman – handle these issues? I had a chance to take a look.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The show’s trademark 2D animation style is served up with great clarity and sharpness for the animation’s line art. As per usual, the colour palette is full of bold primaries.

On the audio side, there’s a single English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack with subtitles available for English SDH. While a pretty front-heavy mix, some effects do make their way to the surround channels. The dialogue is clear and centred.

The single disc has zero special features, nor does it come with a digital code.

The South Park: The Streaming Wars Blu-ray tackles multiple issues in a way only these Colorado school boys can. If you’re a fan of this show and its mature humour, you’ll enjoy this release.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 is another attempt to cash in on the wildly successful first installment of the franchise, a word-of-mouth success that captivated audiences and grossed $368 million against a budget of $5 million. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, starring, written and – for the first time – directed by Nia Vardalos, has Toula, Ian, and her extended loving, loud, and crazy Greek family actually heading to Greece for the first time in the franchise. Toula’s father, Gus, has passed and his dying wish was that his detailed journal be given to his three childhood best friends. With her family in tow, Toula heads off to Greece to fulfill his wish. It’s relatively harmless fun (a phrase never used in ringing endorsements) set in a beautiful country, but never captures the magic that was the first film. Vardalos is joined in the cast by John Corbett, Louis Mandylor, Elena Kampouris, Gia Carides, Joey Fatone, Lainie Kazan, and Andrea Martin. Universal has just released the My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 Collector’s Edition on Blu-ray and I had a chance to take a look.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. It’s not a showstopping transfer and detail isn’t as sharp as we’ve come to expect from Blu-ray. The colour palette is bright, with rich blues and natural greens, so at least the Greek scenery is showcased in that way. Given how beautiful Greece is, it’s a shame that the video presentation isn’t top-notch.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Spanish DTS 5.1 track. The Canadian version drops Spanish for a French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Subtitles are available for English SDH and Spanish, with French replacing Spanish on the Canadian version. Anyone else think it’s weird that there’s not a Greek option? The surrounds don’t get a lot of action, but in one club scene they pull you into the action enough that you’ll start a drink tab. They also get some use with atmospheric sounds and some elements of the bright and dynamic score. Dialogue is clear and centred.

The US version comes with the Blu-ray, a DVD copy and a Digital code. Both the DVD and the code are dropped for the Canadian pressing. Please don’t get me started on the weird AI-generated/enhanced cover art, but man oh man, the faces and hands just look off. Bonus materials include audio commentary by Nia Vardalos, a gag reel, deleted and extended scenes, a look at Nia’s writing and directing, a “making of” featurette, and an extended take of the wedding drum song.

With a story lighter than a baklava and good but not great audio/video, the My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 Blu-ray is only for hardcore fans of the franchise. If you just have a passing interest, catch it on streaming.

Roger Corman is a pioneer in independent cinema and low-budget cult film and his influence on the industry is huge, having mentored filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard, to name but a few. Film Masters have just released a double feature Blu-ray set that presents both Beast From Haunted Cave and Ski Troop Attack. I was given an early look.

Directed by Monte Hellman, 1959’s Beast From Haunted Cave stars Michael Forest, Sheila Noonan, Frank Wolff, Richard Sinatra, Wally Campo, Linné Ahlstrand, Chris Robinson and Jaclyn Zeman. A group of criminals use an explosion in a mine to divert attention away from their robbery of a local bank only to come across a spider-like creature that feeds on humans. The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in both a 1.85:1 aspect ratio and in a 1.33:1 TV-friendly aspect ratio that was used back then. The transfer is from a 4K scan of the original 35mm film elements. The transfers have good clarity, detail and grain structure, though the wear and tear on the source elements is evident. The main thing here is that we’re getting a Blu-ray transfer of a Corman-produced film and it’s always nice when a film is preserved and not lost to the sands of time.

On the audio side of things, the release comes with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono soundtrack with English subtitles.. Again, the transfer depends on the source material but the occasional hisses and crackling does not render the dialogue unintelligible.

Ski Troop Attack was film at the same time as Beast From Haunted Cave and reused the same South Dakota location and Michael Forest, Frank Wolff, Wally Campo and Richard Sinatra star in this one as well. Corman, who directed this outing, knew how to stretch his budgets. In this flick, a patrol of US troops is skiing behind German lines on reconnaissance mission in the Hürtgen Forest during World War II. Besides battling the enemy, there’s tension between the veteran sergeant and the group’s inexperienced lieutenant.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. While Beast From Haunted Cave was scanned in 4K from original 35mm elements, Ski Troop Attack was given an HD scan from a 16mm reduction print. The different source material means this transfer does not have the same clarity as its companion film. The contrast is also lacking a bit and with so many white scenes, the image is a bit washed out. As I’ve said though, it’s great that Film Masters is preserving works from the influential Roger Corman.

On the audio side of things, Ski Troop Attack features an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono soundtrack and English subtitles.

The Beast From Haunted Cave / Ski Troop Attack Special Edition set is presented on two Blu-ray discs. There is no digital code. Film Masters could just present these two films and their preservation work would be done, but they also include bonus materials that help educate the viewer about the films. Beast From Haunted Cave features a commentary by Tom Weaver and Larry Blamire, original and recut trailers and a behind-the-scenes gallery. The Ski Troop Attack disc features commentary by C. Courtney Joyner and Howard S. Berger and a Ballyhoo doc, “Hollywood Intruders: The Filmgroup Story Part One.” The set also has a booklet with essays by C. Courtney Joyner and Tom Weaver,

Film Masters has once again helped film preservation with the release of the Beast From Haunted Cave / Ski Troop Attack Special Edition Blu-ray. If you’re fan of, or interested in learning about, the work of Roger Corman’s production company, you’ll want to add this to your collection.

Studios like to milk their intellectual property dry and the Transformers franchise is no different. Since Transformers was released in 2007, it has spawned four sequels and a prequel film, Bumblebee. The latest entry, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, has its timeline squished between Bumblebee and Transformers. In this iteration, Optimus Prime and the Autobots must battle Unicron and the Terrorcons with help from the Maximals, who are beast mode Transformers. (Not a sentence I type often.) The various Transformers are voiced by Ron Perlman, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh, Pete Davidson, Liza Koshy, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Colman Domingo, Cristo Fernández, Tongayi Chirisa, Peter Cullen, John DiMaggio, and David Sobolov. while the humans – who are really just sidebars to the plot – are led by Dominique Fishback, Anthony Ramos, and Dean Scott Vazquez. While Bumblebee tried to take the franchise in a more “emotional” direction, Steven Caple Jr.’s entry heads back to the more bombastic Micheal Bay style of Transformers flicks. Plot has always taken a back seat to boom and smash in these films, so if that’s your cup of tea, you’ll be happy to know that Paramount has released a 4K SteelBook of the movie. I had a chance to take a look.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. What it lacks in story depth, it makes up in looks. It’s an excellent video presentation with great detail and clarity in both real and computer-generated elements. The colour palette ranges from popping colours on clothing to lush jungle fauna. The black levels are deep and there’s no loss of detail in the shadows and darker scenes. There are no encode issues to speak of and all in all it’s a really good looking presentation.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of English and French Dolby Atmos soundtracks that fold back to Dolby TrueHD 7.1. There are also Spanish (España and Latinoamérica) and French (Canadian) Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish. The soundscape is fully explored, with explosions, scraping metal, clanks and whirs moving throughout the surrounds and height channels while the subwoofer doesn’t get a chance to relax either. Dialogue is clear and centred. It’s a fun track.

The Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 4K SteelBook also comes with a Blu-ray copy of the film as well as a digital code. Extras include featurettes with cast and crew discussing the franchise, 90s production design, the heroes and villains, a look at some of the sequences and locations, as well as deleted and extended scenes. The collectible SteelBook case has a painting of Optimus Prime on the front, a painting of Optimus Primal on the back, the inner panel shows the Maximals on the left and the Autobots on the right.

Fans of the franchise who are also collectors of SteelBooks will be interested in the Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 4K SteelBook, with its excellent audio and video presentations and nice-looking case. A non-SteelBook version is also available for those who don’t care about SteelBooks.

Rosemary’s Baby was director Roman Polanksi’s Hollywood debut and with that debut he produced one of the most chilling horrors in history. Based on Ira Levin’s novel, it tells the tale of a young woman (Mia Farrow) who, during her first pregnancy, becomes increasingly suspicious about both her unsuccessful actor husband (John Cassavetes) and her nosy neighbours (Sidney Blackmer and an Oscar-winning Ruth Gordon). They keep up suggesting she’s just undergoing hormonal paranoia, but as the film unfolds we begin to wonder if paranoia is actually perception. Anchored by the performances of Gordon and Farrow, the film is as creepy today as it was in 1968. As the film celebrates its 55th anniversary, Paramount is releasing a 4K version and I had a chance to take an early look.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The video presentation is sharper than previous releases with excellent details in the fabrics and apartment settings. Any softness in the image is a creative choice by cinematographer William A. Fraker who diffused the shots to provide a dreamy, ethereal feel to what was unfolding. The colour palette stands out in 4K HDR, with brighter whites, deeper reds and more variations in subtle hues. The darker scenes benefit with no loss of detail in the shadows.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby TrueHD 2.0 Mono soundtrack as well as French, German and Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono tracks. Subtitles are available for English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Dutch. Purists will rejoice that the original mono track wasn’t forced into a surround setting. Dialogue is clear and Krzysztof Komeda’s score is haunting.

The Rosemary’s Baby 4K also comes with the 2021 Blu-ray and a digital code. There are no extras on the 4K disc, but the Blu-ray has a featurette that provides background and context to the production while another looks at Farrow and Polanksi. Two trailers are also included.

Rosemary’s Baby is a horror classic. Toss in excellent video and audio and this 4K is highly recommended.

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